Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has hit out at a blog site for spreading false rumours via blog posts and short text messages to incite hatred against the Pakatan Rakyat state government.

NONE Referring to a posting on the blog "Pemuda Umno Nibong Tebal", he said the blog posting was a lie spread to discredit his government. The post alleged that the state government had on Monday handed out aid to the needy, including Muslims, at a Chinese temple.

He also suggested that the blog operator(s) could be behind the spate of SMS that circulated recently making similar allegations about the Pakatan Rakyat state government.

Lim told journalists he had received an SMS from Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad seeking clarification about the rumours. He said this before making a statement to a police officer from George Town.

State executive councillor Phee Boon Poh's special assistant Lai Hon Meng lodged a police report about the SMS on Monday.

The police have also recorded a statement from Phee.

Lim questioned why the police were only investigating the case under Section 500 of the Penal Code for defamation and not also under the Sedition Act.

"If the police are independent and brave enough then they should take stern action (on the bloggers)," he told newsmen later.

Dangerous libel

Lim said that the state government had organised welfare activities only in community halls, not in places of worship such as churches or Chinese temples as alleged by the blog posting.

guan eng and phee boon poh pc 250209 phee boon poh Phee (left) also denied the anonymous SMS allegation that the Penang government was requiring Muslim poor to collect aid at a Chinese temple in northern Seberang Perai.

He said the charity project was being conducted by a private Chinese religious entity that wanted to distribute aid to the needy from all races.

The councillor stressed that the state government had nothing to do with the project.

According to Phee, the Penang Welfare Department merely supplied a list of hard-core poor people to the organisation for distributing aid.

However, he said religious organisations distributing such aid have been asked to do so outside their respective premises of worship as aid recipients hailed from different religious backgrounds.

Phee called on the police to nab the culprit behind the SMS and said, "there was a political motive to malign the state government."

In the blog posting dated Nov 16, the DAP-led state government was accused of challenging the sanctity of Islam by organising aid-distribution programmes for needy Muslims in non-Muslim worship places.

The posting also alleged that Lim's government failed to acknowledge Muslim sensitivities.